About me

I am a fully registered language and Music teacher with over thirty years of teaching experience in the classroom and studio at primary and secondary levels. This has included setting up and administering an instrumental music program and teaching private VCE piano students.

My university degree (Monash University, Clayton Campus) culminated in an honours thesis on Italian opera, which was awarded a first class because of its stylistic understanding and interdisciplinary approach. My linguistic fluency was noted and still enhances how I prepare singers for exams.

I then completed my piano studies with Margriet Pendavingh, an AMEB examiner. I subsequently worked alongside her, teaching private piano and theory students, including VCE preparation. This was a useful apprenticeship for preparing students for exams, and I received much valuable advice while working at her studios. This advice included knowing when and how to accelerate students for exams.

While singing in the Recital Choir with the then Melbourne Chorale (now re-branded as the Melbourne Symphonic Chorus), I consolidated my vocal technique by studying with a graduate of the Royal College of Music, London. The reduction of vocal strain was a key feature of the technique used.

Immediately after the completion of my Dip. Ed. I completed a detailed course on Choral Conducting with Faye Dumont, a former student of Rodney Eichenberger and a practitioner of a style that visually promotes a relaxed and unforced choral tone. Choirs that I have trained using this method have either placed or won their sections at eisteddfods.

Studies in Orff Schulwerk and Kodaly, as well as participation in early childhood conferences and workshops, enhance my ability to teach even very young students.

My extensive classroom-based music career means that I am equipped with a variety of strategies for meeting individual student needs. I am not limited to only one approach.

I have completed numerous courses on improvisation.

For further information about my musical interests: https://padlet.com/jean1511/musicalme